You could chalk it up to one bad month. A tree limb striking an exercising Marine is a freak occurrence. Aviation mishaps are increasingly frequent and can easily drive up non-combat fatalities in a single incident or two.

It’s not unheard of for recruits to die in boot camp — nor is it unheard of for their deaths to expose deeper problems in the institutions that recruited them. Training for combat can be as hazardous as combat — although the “perceived sense of urgency” that Marines demand of themselves can, itself, become a killer. And military aviation is inherently dangerous — but should it be this dangerous?

Marines die. They stand rough and ready to do serious damage to those who would harm us. But that’s no excuse for complacency when young men and women in their 20s and 30s pledge their industry, their honor, their bodies to the service… and get ground up at ridiculous rates in non-combat operations. It’s a break of trust with the victims and their survivors — not just in the blood family, but in the service family, too.

“The difficult we do immediately,” elite troops like to say. “The impossible takes a little longer.” It may be difficult to make training for hell inherently safe. But it’s impossible to believe the Corps is content with so many non-combat deaths. It’s no use fighting for right and freedom, as the song goes, if you can’t keep your honor clean. To do that, a service that excels at breaking shit needs to do a better job of keeping its volunteers in one piece.

After more than a decade of research and development and upwards of $500 million in funding, the Navy finally plans on testing its much-hyped electromagnetic railgun on a surface warship in a major milestone for the beleaguered weapons system, Navy documents reveal.

Just in time for many high school graduations, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a measure ensuring that seniors in the military may wear their dress uniforms instead of a cap and gown at their ceremonies.

DeSantis, a former Navy officer, approved SB 292 to become law upon his signature, which came Thursday.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Congress fell short ahead of Memorial Day weekend, failing to pass legislation that would provide tax relief for the families of military personnel killed during their service.

Senators unanimously approved a version of the bipartisan Gold Star Family Tax Relief Act Tuesday sending it back to the House of Representatives, where it was tied to a retirement savings bill as an amendment, and passed Thursday.

When it got back to the Senate, the larger piece of legislation failed to pass and make its way to the President Trump's desk.

Two airmen were administratively punished for drinking at the missile launch control center for 150 nuclear LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, the Air Force confirmed to Task & Purpose on Friday.

Two F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters recently flew a mission in the Middle East in "beast mode," meaning they were loaded up with as much firepower as they could carry.

The F-35s with the 4th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron took off from Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates to execute a mission in support of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Air Forces Central Command revealed. The fifth-generation fighters sacrificed their high-end stealth to fly with a full loadout of weaponry on their wings.